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Whistleblower (The) (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - High Fliers Review written by and copyright: Andy James & Samuel Scott (7th May 2013). |
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The Film
 This is one of those all too rare films I had never heard of until it was released. I'll clarify: I read a lot of film news and reviews, across a number of different websites and blogs, and not once, come across any mention of "The Whistleblower". It's odd enough I felt moved to mention it here. And to also ponder the confusing nature (from an outsider perspective) of international distribution. Why is it "The Whistleblower" was afforded a theatrical release while other small-medium films - are released straight to DVD, months after they've played internationally? Perhaps a question to be explored in a longer post. "The Whistleblower" is the true-story of Nebraskan cop Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) who takes a job as a peacekeeper/supervisor in post-war Bosnia and comes to find herself involved in investigating prevalent trafficking of female sex slaves. She's a tough but caring character, an honest cop apparently taking the job for the big pay-day which will allow her to move closer to her daughter. Her expectations and sense of Western morality are challenged once she's actually got boots on ground - the majority of her fellow peacekeepers seem to have no experience in law-enforcement and crimes against Bosnian women, Muslims especially, are all but never investigated. The successful conviction of an abusive husband leads to her being appointed to a Women's Affairs role where she where she comes across a dodgy, dingy Bosnian bar. There is evidence not only of women being sexually abused and trafficked across the borders, but that UN employees are active participants. The film is structured like a police procedural thriller - the uncovering of evidence, the horrific crimes - but the sense of tension never really extends to Bolkovac. There is no real point where it feels like she herself could be in any real danger. Oh, there are some threatening phone-calls and there is increasing evidence of the higher-ups attempting to cover everything up, but there is no threat of physical harm to her, or even threats to her reputation. So while there is a genuine threat of harm and possible death hanging over the poor girls who are abused and degraded, Bolkovac feels largely untouchable. Weisz is, of course, an easily assured presence as Bolkovac as she tries to navigate the confounding bureaucracy surrounding the post-conflict area. More frustrating than the sense of flat tension though, is the cinematography choices. Honestly I'm about at my limit of close, shaky camera work; there's is something to be said for a well-constructed and laid out shot. This type of camera work no longer serves to bring me in closer to the action but instead distances me by making itself known. "The Whistleblower" is a decent enough, generally pretty intelligent film that really isn't too much more than that. It doesn't really achieve any sort of screaming indictment or powerhouse presentation: the power of the film comes from the actual true-story itself, rather than any effort from the filmmakers. Again, which is not to entirely deride it or them. Everyone does fine enough work here. There are appearances throughout from other great actors like Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn, Monica Bellucci and Benedict Cumberbatch with painful and powerful work from the unknowns playing the poor girls. And this is all in service of telling us about very real, very horrific historic events; events that serve to anger any right-minded individual. The extent to which the UN heads are shown to be complicit in derailing the investigation to avoid scandal is an indictment on everyone involved. It's just that the film doesn't achieve anything more than that; it doesn't fully engage and involve it's audience.
Video
 Unlike America, Australia and Germany who got an AVC-MPEG 4 encode, High Fliers release "The Whistleblower" on blu-ray for UK audiences in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 using a VC-1 encode. Although a little soft during some night time scenes that take place outdoors, it's quite an impressive transfer. Shot on 35mm, the transfer has natural grain running throughout which does not appear to have been tampered with by way of digital noise reduction or other intrusive post-processing annoyances. The hues used, really give the feel of a poverty stricken wartorn area, with the amount of greys and blues reminding you that you're in the Eastern Block. Skin tones fit the look of the film, slightly greyer than you would expect, and facial close-ups look very detailed. In fact, details are strong throughout (though not reference quality) and despite the amount of blacks used, crushing was minimal.
Audio
There are two audio options available on the disc: - English Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Ummm, hello High Fliers and welcome to blu-ray. Why the hell are there no lossless audio options available on this disc? A truly horrendous decision and the audio track obviously suffers from the lack of sharper, more defined audio because of it. Still, at least the 5.1 track sounds capable enough (and had it been a DVD, would've scored higher). Directionality is okay, effects subtle but noteworthy and there is no damage by way of dropouts or scratches. It's a front heavy track, but still uses the rears and LFE when the occasion calls. There are no subtitles included.
Extras
The featured extra is a selection of cast and crew interviews (30:13), available as a play all option only. It should be noted that audio quality isn't particularly good during these interviews, with the sounds of crockery being handled and what could be an air conditioner in the background. Weisz talks about her character, meeting Kathryn Bolkovac, general plot points, director Larysa Kondracki's openness to talk about the set-up of scenes and possible changes, as well as the cast in general. Monica Belluci talks about the movie touching on humanitarian organisations and the problems some of them have as a result of how they are often funded, how her character 'grows dumb to the pain' as a result of some of the bureaucracy, why she signed up to the project and working with Rachel Weisz. David Strathairn discusses his character, and his characters role in the story. Nikolaaj Li Kaas, Jeanette Hain, Serjec Trifunovic and Alexandru Potocean finish up the cast interviews with similar topics. Next up, Kathryn Bolkovac, the woman on whom this film is based, talks briefly about her story of what happened in Bosnia when she was a peacekeeper, internal corruption, the backlash she received when turning things over to internal affairs and Rachel Weisz's understanding of the situation. Madeleine Rees, the former head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bosnia, discusses how Bolkovac was (thankfully) unable to let things slide, but mainly she talks about how much of an accurate portrayal the film is to human traffiking. Director Larysa Kondracki is the last interviewee, and just gives a brief outline of the feature, locations and sets. It's all interesting, and well worth watching. Other than that, there are only some start-up trailers: - "Small Town Saturday Night" (1:10) - "Welcome to the Rileys" (2:14) - "One Hundred Mornings" (1:38) - "Snow and Ashes" (1:59)
Overall
The film review was originally published on the blog Rockets and Robots are Go! by Andy James. The A/V and supplements were reviewed by Samuel Scott.
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